The questions presented below are divided into categories.
Each category is headed by a title that indicates the topic.

Sir Nicholas Winton

What was your personal reaction to the story of
Nicholas Winton's project?

What in Nicholas Winton's life might have disposed him to take on
this task of saving Jewish children from Czechoslovakia?

What personal risks do you think Nicholas Winton took?

Do you think he stood a chance to gain in any way from this project?

Why were there no other people stepping forward to save children?
Or were there such persons?

Was Nicholas Winton's project in any way unique?

Do you think his example has inspired others? Why do you or do
you not think so?

Do you think it has taken too long a time for Winton's work to be
recognized? What are the reasons for your answer to this question?

Do you think that people like Winton in any way have an effect
on the likelihood of future Holocausts?

Once the war started, Nicholas Winton joined the British Air Force
and never mentioned what he had done for the children of Czechoslovakia.
Why did he keep this a secret and how was his story finally revealed,
50 years later?

What was the reaction of "his children" when they finally met him
in 1988? How have the "children" paid back their adoptive parents
and Nicholas Winton, for the gift of life? What problems might these
children have encountered as they grew up?

In what ways does the fact that Winton never told anyone what he
did make the story all the more powerful?

Joe Schlesinger (the narrator of the film and one of the "children")
emphasizes that one of the "highest marks of civilization is
ordinary human decency." How is Winton an example of this?

Why is the film called "The Power of Good?"

Pre-war Europe

What was life like for Czech children in the 1930's?

What was the initial reaction of the Czechs to Hitler and the
Nazi invasion of the Sudeten region?

What happened when Hitler demanded he keep the Sudeten
region of Czechoslovakia at the Munich Conference? How did
other European countries react?

What did the Czechs living in the Sudeten region do in response
to Hitler's demand to keep the Sudeten region of Czechoslovakia at
the Munich Conference? What threatened all Czechs by
the fall of 1938?

By the fall of 1938, what did it appear were Germany's
plans for Europe?

Nicholas Winton was very anxious to get the children out of
Czechoslovakia as quickly as possible. What was the hurry?

The Rescue

When Nicholas Winton visited Prague in December 1938, what did
he observe? What became his mission?

On March 15, 1939 Germany invaded Czechoslovakia. What challenge
did Winton face at this time? What urgency did he feel?

What methods did he use to accomplish his goals?

How did the Committee deal with authorities in Prague?

What were the logistics of transporting the children to England?

What role did other nations play in the rescue effort?

What happened on September 1, 1939 and to the last scheduled
transport and the 250 children ready to leave?

The Children and Their Families

How were children that needed help located?

What were the hopes of Czech parents when they sent their
children to England? What potential sacrifice were these parents
making? What would these parents imagine would be their own future
and that of their children as they put them on the train?

How did the children feel about leaving their families and
being placed in foster homes?

What were their fears and hopes?

What memories do the children have of their train ride and
what happened to them once they arrived in England?

How did children adjust to being raised in England?

What were some of the cultural differences they had to adapt to?

What was it like to be in Britain in wartime living with strangers?

What were the language issues?

How did foster families deal with the children's religious needs?

How did this experience affect the children's later lives?

Were the children more understanding and compassionate as adults
than they might have been?

Did they seek to help others in the ways they were helped?

How were the experiences of the Czech children different
from other European children?

What happened to almost all the parents of the rescued children?
And how did the children find out the fate of their parents?

Implications for the Future

What occasions exist in the world today that call for brave
leaders such as Nicholas Winton?

Could you be a "Winton," even on a small scale? How
could this come about?